by Tom Llewellyn & illustrated by Sarah Watts ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2010
Llewellyn, a letterpress artist in Tacoma, Wash., inks this first adventure with a mysterious house as its fulcrum. Narrator Josh and younger brother Aaron move into long-vacant Tilton House. Its tilting floors and walls covered in cryptic equations and diagrams captivate Dad (a museum employee) and unnerve Mom (a harried school office-worker). The boys, with Hermione-esque neighbor girl Lola, uncover layers of mystery involving a rat-infested attic and a crawlspace that might include a body, buried treasure or both. The appeal here is also the source of a cavil: The author includes so much kid bait that the narrative’s nearly trumped. There are creepy neighbors, a wooden-legged grandpa, invisibility, a dog, a mysterious box containing “grow powder,” stinky rat poop and much more. Additional, more authorial elements tackle family finances, yellow journalism and the fickle art world. A thread including a pair of undertakers whose long list of names portends death seems tacked on. Yet the author also nails the sibling cadences and camaraderie, delivering a genre-blending page-turner with plenty of room in its eaves for sequels. One to watch. (Fantasy/mystery. 8-11)
Pub Date: June 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58246-288-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
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by Elizabeth Eulberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2016
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff
A modern Sherlock Holmes retelling brings an 11-year-old black John Watson into the sphere of know-it-all 9-year-old white detective Shelby Holmes.
John's an Army brat who's lived in four states already. Now, with his parents' divorce still fresh, the boy who's lived only on military bases must explore the wilds of Harlem. His new life in 221A Baker St. begins inauspiciously, as before he's even finished moving in, his frizzy-haired neighbor blows something up: "BOOM!" But John's great at making friends, and Shelby certainly seems like an interesting kid to know. Oddly loquacious, brusque, and extremely observant, Shelby's locally famous for solving mysteries. John’s swept up in her detecting when a wealthy, brown-skinned classmate enlists their help in the mysterious disappearance of her beloved show dog, Daisy. Whatever could have happened to the prizewinning Cavalier King Charles spaniel? Has she been swiped by a jealous competitor? Has Daisy’s trainer—mysteriously come into enough money to take a secret weekend in Cozumel—been placing bets against his own dog? Brisk pacing, likable characters, a few silly Holmes jokes ("I'm Petunia Cumberbatch," says Shelby while undercover), and a diverse neighborhood, carefully and realistically described by John, are ingredients for success.
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff . (Mystery. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68119-051-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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by Kate Biberdorf with Hillary Homzie ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2020
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers.
A fifth grade girl brings her love of chemistry to the school play.
Kate loves science so much she’s determined to breathe fire. Of course she knows that she needs adult supervision, and so, with her science teacher’s help, Kate demonstrates an experiment with cornstarch and a blowtorch that nearly sets her teacher’s cactus on fire. Consequences ensue. Can someone who loves science as much as Kate does find pleasure spending her fall break at drama camp? It turns out that even the school play—Dragons vs. Unicorns—needs a chemist, though, and Kate saves the day with glue and glitter. She’s sabotaged along the way, but everything is fine after Kate and her frenemy agree to communicate better (an underwhelming response to escalating bullying). Doodles decorate the pages; steps for the one experiment described that can be done at home—making glittery unicorn-horn glue—are included. The most exciting experiments depicted, though, include flames or liquid nitrogen and could only be done with the help of a friendly science teacher. Biberdorf teaches chemistry at the University of Texas and also performs science-education programs as “Kate the Chemist”; in addition to giving her protagonist her name and enthusiasm, she also seems represented in Kate-the-character’s love of the fictional YouTube personality “Dr. Caroline.” Kate and her nemesis are white; Kate’s best friends are black and South Asian.
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11655-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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